UPDATE 12/24/2015, LOS ANGELES, CA

OneLegacy, the non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation serving the seven-county Los Angeles area, today updated its recent announcement that it had broken the 2014 national record for organ donations coordinated in a single year by an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), noting that Philadelphia-based OPO Gift of Life has also surpassed the 2014 number.

As of the latest reported count, the Gift of Life program has coordinated 452 donors in 2015, while OneLegacy has coordinated 450. Gift of Life set the previous single-year record, 447, in 2014, but that mark now has now been exceeded by both OPOs.

“Setting the record for organ donations coordinated by an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) might come down to the last day of the year,” said Tom Mone, Chief Executive Officer of OneLegacy. “This is not a race between OPOs, but rather a race to save lives. No matter which OPO ends up with the 2015 record, the real winners are the more than 122,000 people across the country waiting to receive a transplant.”

“According to the most recent national statistics, deceased organ donation is up almost 6 percent this year compared with 2014,” Mone added. “And while I am proud of OneLegacy, Gift of Life and other colleagues around the country, the real heroes who are making this achievement possible are the millions of Americans who are saving lives by registering as donors and the donor families who have chosen to leave a legacy of life.”

“We are pleased to have colleagues like Gift of Life, whose record-setting performance is inspiring OPOs like OneLegacy to work even harder to save lives through organ, eye and tissue donations. Every donation and transplantation of a heart, lung, kidney or liver means the journey of life continues, thanks to the selfless decision by individuals and families to donate life.”

Original blog posting:

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwired – December 22, 2015) – OneLegacy, the non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation serving the seven-county greater Los Angeles area, announced on the evening of December 21 its 450th organ donor for 2015, breaking the national record for the number of organ donations coordinated in a single year by an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).

“This milestone is significant, but there are still nearly 8,800 people in need of a transplant right here in Southern California,” said Tom Mone, Chief Executive Officer of OneLegacy. “While we have reduced deaths on the waitlist to half of what they were a decade ago, OneLegacy and our partners will re-double efforts to achieve our goal of ending deaths on the waitlists.”

The prior national record for organ donors was 447, set by fellow OPO Gift of Life in Philadelphia in 2013 and repeated in 2014. OneLegacy surpassed its own record of 432 organ donors, which was set in 2006, earlier this month. In the last 15 years, OneLegacy has increased organ donors by 74%.

“Each of these numbers should not be seen as a statistic, but as a story,” said Prasad Garimella, Chief Operating Officer of OneLegacy. “Every donation and transplantation reflects a family that has been forever changed, and a community that has come together to make each life-saving gift possible.”

OneLegacy is also on track to set a single year record of 2,550 tissue donors recovered, as well as surpass its own record for the number of corneas recovered and transplanted in 2015 — with numbers expected to reach 1,700 corneas transplanted.